Villa Standard view or $150 to upgrade to an island view.

Wendy from Neverland

Earning My Ears
Joined
Sep 9, 2018
Hi, we rented/booked DVC points for a one bedroom standard view and I am debating on upgrading the view. We are only there two nights. Do you feel it is worth it? We will be coming from Waikiki where we will have an ocean view so not sure I want to invest the $150 or not.
Please let me know your input.
Thanks
 
My opinion, I would keep the room you initially booked. Save that $150 for drinks @ 'Olelo room or 'Ama 'Ama!!
 
View vs no view is very subjective. For us, we don't spend enough time in the room to care about the view and would rather spend $150 on an experience or something else at the resort. For others, they like to sit on the balcony with coffee or read or get away after kids have gone to bed, and that price would be worth it to them to upgrade the view.

Personally, $150 would be a lot for just two nights, especially for island view. We had a standard room booked and overlooked the courtyard of the convention center with mountains in the background, so it qualified as island view to me anyway.
 
If you rented the points, that's usually a final transaction (can't change anything about the details) so I don't think you'd be able to upgrade unless there is availability and the owner is willing to change out the reservation.
 


We think the ocean view is worth the extra cost. Aulani was the first place, in all of our years travelling, where we actually sat on the balcony and enjoyed the view, the morning music, and just relaxing. I suppose that can all be done by the pool, but the pool is crowded... We really enjoyed it. But, we were there for 6 days...

It all depends on what you want to do at Aulani. If you're only there for 2 nights, and plan to be in the pools and on the beach and essentially out of your room every day, you should be just fine with the room you have. If you're there longer, or plan to spend several hours relaxing in your room, the better view would be worthwhile.
 
I think I will stay put. I looked at a thread showing room numbers/types and there doesn't seems to be many standard DVC one bedrooms so maybe I will get lucky and get to see the island. Looked at several island/standard views and some you couldn't even tell the difference. We plan to be busy and there won't be much time spent in the room so will just put it towards an excursion
 
I wouldn't as the std views are the lower floors and island view would be the higher floor rooms. As others have said, spend that money on an experience instead.
 


If you rented the points, that's usually a final transaction (can't change anything about the details) so I don't think you'd be able to upgrade unless there is availability and the owner is willing to change out the reservation.

This is a great point, I didn't catch that the OP is a point renter. In order to upgrade the view, you would need to contact the broker or owner who made the reservation, and they will need to have enough points available to sell to you for the upgrade. And then there would have to be an upgraded room available for your dates. You'd not be able to upgrade at the resort yourself if there is availability, because I don't think you can pay cash for that when its booked on points. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I've seen warnings that this could hit the owner's points, which you wouldn't want.
 
If you were upgrading to ocean view definitely. Our first trip we had a beach view and it was beautiful. Last trip was the parking lot. we never even went on the balcony.
 
For us, an ocean view is mandatory. We don't fly all the way to Hawaii and not see the ocean. It's important to us, so we always book ocean view, high floor.
We just returned from Aulani and had Ewa Tower, 16th floor, full ocean view. We tend to spend time on our deck, having coffee, relaxing and taking it all in.
If you aren't the type of folks who place value in that, definitely don't spend the money. If you do, it's worth every penny.
 
If you rented the points, that's usually a final transaction (can't change anything about the details) so I don't think you'd be able to upgrade unless there is availability and the owner is willing to change out the reservation.

Agreed with what I quoted here. OP- it would be a hassle for you and the owner, there might not be availability. Stick with the Standard View for this trip.

For us, an ocean view is mandatory. We don't fly all the way to Hawaii and not see the ocean. It's important to us, so we always book ocean view, high floor.
We just returned from Aulani and had Ewa Tower, 16th floor, full ocean view. We tend to spend time on our deck, having coffee, relaxing and taking it all in.
If you aren't the type of folks who place value in that, definitely don't spend the money. If you do, it's worth every penny.

Same. We did Aulani Standard View once for 3 nights, it was a large family trip and we needed a 1 bedroom and that's all we could swing. It was OK. We typically do not care about views when we travel, but Hawaii is an exception. Same for us, we don't usually care about views, but at Aulani a pool or Ocean (facing the pool) is a must. We typically spend lots of time on balconies/lanais in Hawaii. If we're flying 12 hours nonstop, we need that relaxing balcony.
 
Standard view = staring into roof. Island view = staring into mountain but if you're put on lower floor, you'll still be seeing roof. IMO not worth the upgrade. Save the money and eat more poke.
 

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